Elevators 9-14-8 to 9-14-11, 9-15-8
Moving on with the elevators, I decided to trim the counterweights to the size specified. I began by marking the cuts on the weights using a sharpie, and then proceeded to cut the weights on the bandsaw.
Lead is relatively soft, so the bandsaw had no trouble cutting through with a wood saw blade. I just had to be careful to vacuum up the small chips that came off as I was cutting. I also wore gear to ensure that I was protected from any flying chips of lead.
I had to pay attention to ensuring that the saw tracked along the cut line as the lead was being cut. On one of the weights, the saw blade wandered a little and I ended up cutting a little more off than I planned to. No big deal though because after making these cuts, I was able to pair up the 4 weights so that the total weight of each pair were within a few grams of each other.
Next I had to trim the raised portion off two of the weights. To accomplish this, I clamped the weight into the vice and used a chisel and hammer to slowly trim away the raised portion. The chisel method of trimming worked extremely well. No chips or heat was generated and the cut was very clean taking only a few minutes per weight to complete.
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| Chisel and hammer used to trim raised edges off counterweights |
With all the cuts done, I deburred all sharp edges with a file and also final drilled the attachment holes to #12. I then test fit the counterweights to the elevator tip ribs, and confirmed that the weight of each pair of counterweights remained within a couple of grams difference. This difference won't be an issue because the elevators will need to be balanced after empennage attachment, and again after aircraft painting during which time additional weight will need to be added as required.
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| Trimmed counterweights and attachment hardware |
I then got ready to apply tank sealant to the elevator trailing edges. After setting up my shop with everything at hand, I mixed up a cartridge of sealant and proceeded to apply a thin coat to the elevator foam ribs and trailing edge wedges.
Once the wedges were clecoed in place, I carefully put boards and weights on top of the elevator trailing edges and checked to make sure the elevators (and especially the leading edges) were straight. I initially wasn't happy with the straightness mainly due to a slight bow in my workbench surface, but some reconfiguring of boards, and using the square aluminum leveling jig that I used earlier, allowed me to place the elevators perfectly level with a razor straight trailing edge.
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| Initial attempt to level the elevator where I used aluminum angle to hold the trailing edge straight |
Before I start on the tailcone assembly, I'll look into ways to better level (and ensure flatness of) my workbench top, as I could have avoided the extra leveling work above if the bench top was flat.
After a week of curing, I removed all the boards, weights and clecoes, and cleaned out any excess tank sealant from the trailing edge holes using a #40 reamer spun with my fingers. I also used the hole deburring tool to gently clean out tank sealant stuck in the dimples taking care not to remove any aluminum. A final wipe with acetone cleaned up the trailing edges nicely.
Checking the edges with a straight-edge, I was very happy with how they turned out!
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| Trailing edges cleaned up, held tightly... |
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| ... and perfectly straight |
Build Hints
- Go slow cutting lead weights on the bandsaw. This both reduces flying chips and also helps in making adjustments while cutting to ensure the blade tracks the cut line accurately.
- Take time to ensure workbench tops are completely flat (and level). This avoids having to spend significant time leveling individual airplane parts using adhoc methods.
Time Taken: 6.1 hours
Dates: January 4 - January 7, January 14 2023
Elevators Total Time: 85.7 hours
RV-10 Build Total Time: 249.4 hours
Priming Total Time: 26.4 hours (not included in build time totals)